Competitive Exams: Current Affairs 2011: Nationally Acclaimed Awards

Nationally Acclaimed Awards

Social activist Aruna Roy gets Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration.

Academia and Management for her arduous journey and dedication towards the issue of the common man.

The Award:

Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, Delhi instituted the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management in 1998, with a view to upholding the vision of the late Prime

Minister, each year the award honours an Indian, residing either in the country or abroad.

The honour carries a cash award of Rs. Five lakh, a Citation and a Plaque. The awardees are designated as Lal

Bahadur Shastri Fellows and their names are inscribed on the roll of honours of the Institute.

Previous awardees:

Dr. E. Sreedharan, the Metro Man of India (2009).

Shri Sunil Mittal, Chairman and Group CEO, Bharti Enterprises (2008).

Aruna Roy:

Aruna Roy, a former IAS officer is a political and social activist who founded and heads the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti

Sangathana (Workers and Peasants Strength Union). She is best known as a prominent leader of the Right to

Information movement, which led to the enactment of the Right to Information Act in 2005 and, and, more recently, the right to work campaign. Ms. Roy is a member of the second National Advisory Council, set up by the Central government to advise it on social policies, and the Central Employment Guarantee Council, an advisory body to oversee the implementation of the MGNREGA.

In 2000, she received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership.

Sahitya Akademi Award

The award is given to recognize and promote excellence in Indian writing and also acknowledge new trends

second-highest literary honor next to a Sahitya Akademi Fellowship.

Established in 1954, the award comprises a plaque and a cash prize of Rs. 100, 000

Sahitya Akademi

meant to promote the cause of Indian literature

founded in March 1954 as an autonomous body

registered as a Society in 1956

recognizes 24 languages

Head Office in New Delhi

Highest honour conferred Fellow (limited to 21 at any given time.)

Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration

Oscar-winning composer A R Rahman and the Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, located in Chhattisgarhs Narainpur, have jointly won the 25th Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for the year 2009 for their services in promoting and preserving national integration.

The award, which consists of a citation and Rs. 2.5 lakh is presented on October 31, the death anniversary of the former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. It was instituted by the Congress in 1985 to recognise distinguished persons for outstanding contributions to the cause of national integration.

Previous awardees: 2006: Dr. J S Bandukwalla and Ram Puniyani jointly 2009: Balraj Puri (note: It is different from The Indira Gandhi Prize or the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development)

Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development to Lula Da Silva

Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development is the prestigious award accorded annually by India to individuals or organizations in recognition of creative efforts toward promoting international peace, development and a new international economic order; ensuring that scientific discoveries are used for the larger good of humanity, and enlarging the scope of freedom. The prize carries a cash award of 25 lakh Indian rupees and a citation.

Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and M S Swaminathan, an Indian Agricultural Scientist in 1999 are only indian who have been awarded this prize

Jamnalal Bajaj Awards

The Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation has instituted four awards which are given annually. The objective of these awards is to recoganise and suitably reward the efforts of the men and women who have dedicated their life to Gandhian

Constructive Work and the ideals which Jamnalal Bajaj had cherished all his life. The award carries five lakhs in cash, a trophy and citation. 2010 winner

Award for Outstanding

Contribution in the field of

Constructive Work

Chunibhai Vaidya, aoldest living Gandhian, nonagenarian from Ahmedabad, was given the award for outstanding contribution in the field of constructive work.

Award for Application of Science and Technology for Rural Development

Chewang Norphel, a 74-year-old civil engineer from Ladakh. His artificial glacier has helped farmers in the dry and difficult region of Ladakh get water supply in

April and May the most crucial period of sowing.

Award for Outstanding Contribution to Uplift and Welfare of Women and Children

Shakuntala Choudhary, a nonagenarian from Assam. She has trained thousands of gram sevikas through Kasturba Centres throughout the State, and also worked for maintaining peaceful and harmonious relations among various social groups.

International Award for Promoting Gandhian Values Outside India

Lia Diskin from Brazil. Ms. Diskin has formed a non-governmental organisation for community-oriented programmes in education, healthcare, human rights, environmental preservation, social welfare and cultural peace.

Jamnalal Bajaj Birth Centenary-Special Award

On the occasion of the Jamnalal Bajaj Birth Centenary, the foundation conferred on Dr. Nelson Mandela, a Special

Award of Rs. 500, 000, a citation and a specially sculptured trophy. It was presented on 18 October 1990.